Flu coming on? How about a trip to the pharmacy for diagnosis, treatment?

Bills in the Florida House and Senate would give pharmacists authority to conduct simple mouth swab tests for influenza and streptococcus and depending upon the results, dispense prescription Tamiflu or antibiotics.

Bills in the Florida House and Senate would give pharmacists authority to conduct simple mouth swab tests for influenza and streptococcus and depending upon the results, dispense prescription Tamiflu or antibiotics.

Flu sufferers could be quickly diagnosed and treated by their local pharmacist, if a proposal before the state Legislature is enacted.

Bills in the state House and Senate would give pharmacists authority to conduct simple mouth swab tests for influenza and streptococcus and, depending upon the results, dispense prescription Tamiflu or antibiotics. Tests would give results in about 30 minutes.

Proponents, including the Florida Pharmacy Association, say rapid treatment will accomplish a number of public benefits. For most flu sufferers, the antiviral medicine Tamiflu can ease symptoms if administered in the first day or two after symptoms show up. Patients diagnosed with strep would more quickly start taking antibiotics and more quickly cease to be contagious.

Pharmacists would require additional training to give the test and treatment, and specific protocols would be approved by the state Board of Pharmacy. Training standards would be similar to those enabling pharmacists to administer flu vaccines, said Suzanne Wise, president of the Florida Pharmacy Association.

The CDC announced that in its 13 years of flu monitoring, every part of the continental U.S. showed “widespread” flu activity. The agency has tips to help prevent and treat flu symptoms.

The CDC announced that in its 13 years of flu monitoring, every part of the continental U.S. showed “widespread” flu activity. The agency has tips to help prevent and treat flu symptoms.

The quick test wouldn’t be for everyone. In Minnesota, which legalized treatment and testing by pharmacists, people with certain conditions are ineligible, and similar exceptions would likely be put in place in Florida, said the bill’s House sponsor, Rep. Rene Plasencia, a Republican representing parts of Brevard and Orange counties. People ineligible in Minnesota are pregnant or nursing, or have asthma, heart failure, compromised immune systems, renal disease or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Plasencia said.

Other organizations favoring the bill are the Florida Retail Federation, the Florida Society of Health-System Pharmacists and the Florida Independent Pharmacy Network, said Michael Jackson, the Florida Pharmacy Association’s vice president and CEO.

The bill was advanced by a 12-2 vote on Jan. 16 by the House Health Quality Subcommittee and referred to the Health and Human Services Committee, which has not yet scheduled a hearing. A Senate version has not yet been scheduled for a committee hearing.

Opponents include the Florida Medical Association and the Florida Academy of Family Physicians.

After two relatively mild seasons, the flu virus is once again proving its unpredictable nature, peaking earlier than usual in Central Florida and on track to become the most widespread outbreak in recent history, affecting the entire country.

Local emergency departments, urgent care centers and...

Speaking against the proposal on behalf of the Florida College of Emergency Physicians, Dr. Damian Caraballo, a Tampa-based emergency physician, said flu-like symptoms can indicate a large number of illnesses that pharmacists would not be able to diagnose with limited training.

“In residency, we do 8,000 to 12,000 hours of training,” he said. “So we know the difference between somebody with the flu, somebody with sepsis, somebody with life-threatening pneumonia, someone with a peritonsillar abscess. There’s a huge difference.”

Voting against the bill, Rep. Ralph Massullo, a Citrus County dermatologist, said pharmacists don’t have the experience or expertise to do physical exams or recognize side effects possible with flu and strep drugs. He said the measure would benefit large-scale pharmacy businesses while putting patients at unnecessary risk.

However, another physician on the committee, Rep. Cary Pigman, who works as an emergency room doctor in Okeechobee, described working a recent 36-hour shift in an emergency room filled with flu patients and said allowing pharmacists to treat flu and strep sufferers would free capacity for people with more serious problems.

“When you come to the emergency department that’s filled with people with flu and snowbirds, I hope you and your loved ones never have an acute heart attack or a stroke,” Pigman said. “If I am bursting at the seams, if I am overcrowded, we are maybe not going to get to you on time.”